


Remember Me

by vittoriacolona



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 13:21:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5929920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vittoriacolona/pseuds/vittoriacolona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a short story inspired by the final scene between Dunk and Lady Rohanne in the novella the Sworn Sword, by George RR Martin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remember Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [George RR Martin and Ian Flemming](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=George+RR+Martin+and+Ian+Flemming).



> In order to provide the set up and context I copied Martins’ original dialogue. ** Dialogue has been lifted directly from the book. A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms, George RR Martin 2015.  
> Physical influences. Dunk is physically based on former rugby player Kayne Lawton and Lady Rohanne is physically based on actress Catherine Berube.

Dunk left Septon Sefton and hobbled as quickly as possible towards the barn.

His sprained ankle, and the rain which had turned the yard to a morass of mud was not making his journey easy. But he was determined to make it on his own. When Egg had visited him that morning he told the boy that they were leaving and he should be packed and have the horses saddled for mid day departure. He told Egg to say goodbye to Ser Eustace. Dunk had made a point to mention Ser Eustace by name as opposed to having Egg say goodbye to everyone in general. Because the last thing Dunk needed was to let her know that he was leaving. He did not need a confrontation, not that he expected one. Her actions had pretty much told him what she had thought of him. 

Dunk cursed himself and shook his head to clear it. 

By all rights, he should be thinking of Tanselle Too-Tall. A comely girl whom he had met at Ashford Meadow almost two years ago. Tanselle was perfect for him, she was pretty, tall enough so that he would not have had to stoop down to kiss her (not that he had), but more to the point she was a small folk just like himself. She was the sort of woman he could see himself married raising children and working on a farm and growing old with.

But it was not Tanselle of whom he thought. As much as he tried not to. His thoughts and yearnings were for someone else. A woman who was small, as Tanselle was tall. A woman of noble birth. A woman who exuded power, intelligence and indomitable will, along with kindness and an understated vulnerability. 

Even now he could not think about her or even her name without feeling a sting in his gut. It was a very similar sensation to what he had felt in the dream he had of her. It had started off with him running towards her. She had a bow and arrow and was firing shots at him…while completely naked. The dream had ended with Dunk pulling her into his arms and kissing her. (He often wondered how far things might have progressed in the dream if he had not been awoken).  
It was pure foolishness he thought, but he could not help but continue to think about it.

He had thought that they had made a connection. He really had. He recalled in great detail every one of their exchanges. From the way her green eyes lit up when she smiled at him. To the feel of her fingers through his sand silk shirt- as they traced the pattern on his sigil all the way around his heart. He recalled the touch of her fingers on his swollen lip as she enquired about his welfare and offered an apology for slapping him the day before. The way she smiled at his jape. But most of all he recalled their in depth conversations. She had not treated him or reacted to him as if he were some base born oaf whom she could look down on, Even after he had made an ass of himself in an attempt at trying to be gracious on their first meeting. Instead she treated him with respect and listened with rapt interest to everything he had to say, as if she valued his counsel. It was if she had looked past his station and manner to see him for whom he really was on the inside. \

Dunk had even secretly hoped that she would have come by to show him some gratitude for having dispatched Ser Lucas Inchfield the captain of her guards also known as the Longinch. During their meeting at the river, she had confided to Dunk that he had been threatening to force her to marry him. Although she had tried to sound matter of fact about it, the way she clutched at her braid and the slight quiver in her voice told him otherwise. That she was frightened. When Dunk had heard Ser Lucas make the threat directly towards her moments later. He knew he had to do something. The notion of that vile arrogant man..so much as… touching her made Dunk’s blood boil with anger. Right then his match against the Longinch became as much about defending his liege lord Ser Eustace as much as it was about defending her. And he had. It had been a battle to the death which Dunk had narrowly won and which had rendered him flat on his back for days in the infirmary.  
Dunk had been sure that his attraction had not been one sided or simply a figment of his imagination. The good Septon Sefton, who knew her well, had even confided to him that she was very much taken with him. But that turned out to be all nonsense, he thought bitterly.

Not once during his many days of convalescence had she come by to see how he was doing as he recuperated from his injuries.

Not One Single Time. 

No he thought he had to get away as quickly as possible. What was it that Ser Arlan had always said to him?  
Dunk the Lunk, thick as a castle wall. Dunk was certainly living up to that saying in more than one way…..

When he pushed open the barn door he found Rohanne leaning against yellow bales of hay. She was wearing a stunning green gown which did wonders at outlining her trim figure and highlighting her lime green eyes. Her signature red braid hung over her shoulder and fell down to her thigh. The expression on her face was that of what he wondered. Joy? Relief? 

**“Ser Duncan,” she said moving away from the bales of hay and walking over to him, “It is good to see you on your feet.”

“M’ lady,” he greeted curtly,” What brings you to the stables? It is a wet day for a ride.”

“I might say the same to you,” she replied.

“Egg told you?”

I owe him another clout in the ear Dunk thought annoyed.

“Be glad he did, or I would have sent men after you to drag you back. It was cruel of you to try to steal away without so much as a farewell.”

“That green becomes you well, m’lady,” he said changing the subject, “It brings out the color of your eyes.” He shifted his weight awkwardly on the crutch, “I’m here for my horse.”

“You do not need to go. There is a place for you here, when you’re recovered. You can be Captain of my guards. And Egg can join my other squires. No one need ever know who he is.”

“Thank you, m’lady, but no,” he said hobbling towards Thunder.

“Please reconsider, ser. These are perilous times, even for dragons and their friends. Stay until you’ve healed,” She walked along beside him, “It would please Lord Eustace too. He is very fond of you.”

Dunk could not help but notice how she did include herself.

“Very fond,” Dunk agreed barely hiding his anger, “If his daughter wasn’t dead, he’d want me to marry her. Then you could be my lady mother. I never had a mother, much less a lady mother.”

For half a heart beat Lady Rohanne looked as though she was going to slap him again. Maybe she’ll just kick my crutch away. He thought.

“You are angry with me ser,” she said quietly, “You must let me make amends.”

“Well…“You could help me saddle Thunder,” he said trying to make the situation lighter.

Dunk honestly did not want to have this discussion. Why didn’t she just leave and let him get on with his life? He wanted to put this incident (and her) behind him as much as possible…but Rohanne was stubborn as ever.

“I had something else in mind,” she said, then reaching out she took his free hand in hers. The touch of her hand against his was like fire. Dunk could not help but look down and her freckled hand and think of his dream of her where she had been naked. He wondered if she was freckled all over….  
“How well do you know horses?” she continued.  
“I ride one.”  
“An old destrier bred for battle, slow-footed and ill-tempered. Not a horse to ride from place to place.”

“If I need to get from place to place, it’s him or these.” Dunk pointed to his feet.

“You have large feet,” she observed, “Large hands as well. I think you must be large all over. Too large for most palfreys. They’d look like ponies with you perched upon their backs. Still a swifter mount would serve you well. A big courser, with some Dornish sand steed for endurance.” She pointed to the stall across from Thunder’s. “A horse like her.” 

She was a blood bay with a bright eye and a long, fiery mane.   
Lady Rohanne took a carrot from her sleeve & stroked her head as she took it. “The carrot, not the fingers,” She told the horse, before she turned again to Dunk.” I call her Flame but you may name her as you please. Call her Amends if you like.”

For a moment he was speechless. He leaned on the crutch and looked at the blood bay with new eyes. She was magnificent.

“I bred her for beauty and for speed.”

For a moment Dunk was tempted to take the horse. But it would be forever a reminder of what could never be.

“I cannot take her,” he said finally turning back to Thunder.

“Why not?”

“She is too good a horse for me. Just look at her.”

The look Dunk gave Rohanne was pointed and unmistakable. She blushed. She clutched her braid, twisting it between her fingers.

“I had to marry, you know that.” She stammered the explanation out as if ashamed, “My father’s will…oh don’t be such a fool.”

“What else should I be? I’m thick as a castle wall and bastard-born as well.”

“Take the horse,” Rohanne insisted walking up to him so that they were only feet apart, “I refuse to let you go without something to remember me by.”

“I will remember you m’lady. Have no fear of that,” he replied not without a hint of bitterness.

“Take her!” she shouted at him.

And he did. 

Dunk grabbed her braid and pulled her face towards his and kissed her hard. At first he thought that she might resist and push him away. But instead he felt her mouth open to receive his tongue, and she was kissing him back just as hard and as urgently as he was kissing her. One arm snaked under his free arm and around his back the other behind his neck pulling him closer pressing her body into his.

When they parted they were both breathing heavily, and it was then that Dunk knew what he really wanted the most. The expression on Rohnane’s face said that she wanted the same thing.

She took him under his free arm and led him to an empty nearby stall that looked as if it had been cleaned and laid with fresh hay recently.

“Wait.. your servants..” he said stopping her.

“The groom and stable boy are in the castle assisting with repairs. No one knows where I am and in this rain it is unlikely that they will come looking for me. We are alone.”

They were soon fumbling with each others clothes. She removed his cloak and laid it on the straw then she undid his heavy belt and sword and allowed those to fall to the floor as well, then they removed his heavy rough spun jerkin. She stopped as she beheld his powerful muscular frame.  
Rohanne rubbed her small, but calloused hands over the wide expanse of his chest and then the ridges of his hard flat stomach. Dunk’s skin tingled at the touch of her skin.

“These bruises,” she began gently touching each one and then kissing them in a way in which Dunk found very moving, “Do they hurt?”

“Not anymore..” he said. Dunk had to admit that the real hurt he had felt was her not visiting him but that wasn’t the case anymore.

Standing on her toes she covered each of his nipples with her mouth and then licked each one with her tongue.

“Ser knight…” she murmured loosening his breaches and then his small clothes. They soon pooled at his ankles “My Knight.”

She found that he was indeed ‘big all over’ to the point where she needed both of her hands to hold all of him. She kissed both of his hard muscular flanks before devouring him.

The sensation was something that Dunk had never ever experienced before never in his life. All the times he had attended to his own pleasure was nothing like this. He felt as if he were completely under her control..as if he was completely at her mercy. But who was he fooling, he had been almost virtually at her mercy from the moment he laid eyes on her.

He clutched his crutch with one hand while with the other he gripped the low level partition of the stall beside him for support as he exploded.  
He pulled her to him again crushing her in an embrace, to which she laughed like a carefree maid.

“I want to..”

“You want to what?”

“I want to …please you.”

“Ser…,” she began.

“Duncan,” he said nibbling on her lower lip, “But my friends call me Dunk.”

“Dunk then,” she began, “ Have you…been with a woman before?”

Blushing he shook his head no.

“Truly?”

“No..Ser Arlan meant to bring me to a …..” he stammered but could not get the words out. But clearly Rohanne understood what he was getting at.

“I see,” she finished, “But Ser Arlan has passed on. Certainly there have been women who have expressed interest?”

“Camp followers,” he said thinking, “I guess that I just wanted it to be special.”

He paused and looked into her eyes. Taking a lock of her red hair loosed red hair between his fingers.

“And now it will be,” he said thickly.

“Yes it will,” she said with a smile.

With large hands his clumsy fingers began to undo the lacings of the front of her dress until it was fully loosened. He then pulled down the dress until she was naked to the waist. Her frame was small but muscular..with a dusting of freckles across her shoulders and high and well shaped breasts. Her nipples were a dusky pink. Dunk covered her breasts with his mouth and lapped at each one until they were hard. She groaned and placed both hands behind his head.  
He pulled down the rest of her dress and then her small clothes and buried his face in between the nest of her hair.  
When he looked up at her…her face was red as if she had not had anyone do that to her before. 

“Come..” she said taking him by the hand, she led him to one of the partitions.

Rohanne gripped the partition behind her with both hands as Dunk took her right leg and hoisted it over his left shoulder. He then placed his head between her legs and began to lap at her sex, Gently at first but then more vigorously. She tasted like lemons.. He had always wondered what had elicited the cries of pleasure he often heard come from behind tents at night during tourneys he attended. Now he knew. But they did not give him as much pleasure as he experienced in knowing that it was he who was giving it to her. It was the most pleasurable sound he had ever head, and it gave him just as much pleasure to know that it was he who was getting those sounds of pleasure from her lips. Rohanne let go of the partition and buried her fingers in Dunks thick hair. Dunk felt that she was closer to release the more tightly and harder she pulled on his hair. Soon his face was covered in her juices and he could feel her tightening her leg around his back and let out deep sigh.

Finally she took him by the hand and made him lie down on his back on the spread out cloak. She straddled his body at the waist the leaning over Dunk’s torso they exchanged a deep kiss before sitting back. Then taking his hardness she placed him inside of her. She sat like that for several moments, both of them luxuriating in the sensation of being one. Then bending over his torso, She kissed him once more and twinned her fingers in his. She then placed his hands above his head and held them like that as she began to move with him inside her. Slowly at first then more vigorously. He was soon matching her thrust for thrust.

He now understood why all the songs celebrated this act. For the first time ever, Dunk was glad that Ser Arlan had not brought him to a brothel. Or he had not gone ahead and bought the whore when he was at the Ashford Tournament.

“Gods be good..” he moaned as he felt himself shudder and release himself into her body. Rohanne did the same collapsing against his body. 

“Are you alright?” she asked kissing him gently.

“All right?” he asked, “I am not sure if I could be any more well. If I died right now it would be as a happy man,” 

Rohanne said nothing but let out a gentle laugh. Dunk reached behind him and grabbed his jerkin and used it to cover Rohanne. 

They lay in each others’ arms for several moments. There was no sound but the rain coming down outside and their breathing. 

Finally Rohanne broke the silence.

“Please don’t go,” she said against his chest her voice almost a sob. The emotion caught Dunk off guard. There was nothing more that he would love than to remain at Coldmoat as captain of her guards, protecting her home. Protecting her. But there was too much at stake. 

“You know I must,” Dunk said raising her head so that he could look her in the eyes. They glistened as if she were on the verge of crying, “If I stay this will happen again and again. And it is only a matter of time before we are discovered. You will be ruined and it will destroy everything that you have built.”

“You really care about my reputation?” she asked.

“I care about you,” he said emphasized “I can’t offer you a life. And you’ve built up too much here…to throw it away on me. You have too much to lose and the small folk depend on you. You protect them much better than Ser Eustace does his and many of the Lords I have encountered.”

“I really wish that you were better born so that I could marry you.”

Dunk stopped and stared at her.

“You told me that before at the river…”

“And I meant it,” she emphasized kissing him.

Dunk was shocked at hearing this from such a highborn lady, a highborn lady whose wealth and looks made it so that she could have any Lord or landed knight that she wanted.

“Septon Sefton told me something similar when we first spoke at length. He told me that you were very much interested in me as a suitor. I did not understand why. I am only a Hedge Knight. I have hardly any money than what I earn. And I am not of noble birth.”

Rohanne was silent for a moment, she half lay on the cloak, half lay on Dunk. She rested her head on one hand and with the other she began to slowly trace his almost healed lip with her fingers. Both of her legs were entwined around his right muscular one. The feel of her skin rubbing against his each time she shifted her legs was like silk against his. 

“That time…when I slapped you for invoking Addam’s name. It was not so much because you had invoked the name of a boy I had loved. It was just that when you brought up his name..I was reminded of his death and how the last time I had truly been happy was when he was alive.”

Her voice trailed off and Dunk did not press her. He did not have to. He was aware of her situation. He could imagine what the last fifteen years had been like with four husbands and then two children dying in succession. The talk and the whispers that she had a hand in their deaths. That she was cursed and tainted, and that everyone around her ended up dead. Then there was the added responsibility of having to look after in-laws who were anxious to see her fail so that they could inherit her lands. And neighbors who were constantly harassing her so that they could take over her holdings.

And it was at that moment that he realized what had been building up…why it was that she had such an effect on him. Dunk knew that she was a powerful and a very dangerous woman. But she wasn’t that way because it was her natural disposition. She was powerful and dangerous because she had to be. If she showed any kind of softness or mercy she would be trampled on. And in that regard she was braver than any warrior or knight he had ever come across. It was why he respected her…and loved her.

“My first husband was a boy only a few years older than I was. I told you he died on the Red grass fields.”

“Yes I remember,” Dunk said.

“The other men my father found for me. Were older men. Far older than me. They were all marriages of convenience. I was not close to any of them and none of them had any talent for running Coldmoat or her lands. They weren’t brave or very wise… or loving.” 

“And then I met you,” she added smiling, “From the moment I saw you walk across the yard. I knew that you were different. Just from the way you moved, with such controlled strength and gravitas. You were far better of a man than any other knight or lordling that has called on me.” 

As she said this she drew her index finger gently along the scar on his cheek. He had received it when cutting himself as a peace making sacrifice. When she had refused to back down from insisting that the other hedge knight, Ser Benis be cut as payment for injuring one of her small folk. 

“During our initial meeting in my audience chamber, something on the inside of me went off. Something I thought that had been buried a long time ago. At first I thought that maybe I was just swayed by your size and gallantry during our initial meeting. But then that night when I went to bed, all I could think about was you. And when I saw you across the river the following day..I was overcome with an inner..excitement. It was something that I had not felt since I had been a child. Since I knew Addam. You see Addam had never merely been a boy whom I had a childhood love for. He was the companion of my youth and someone I could share things with. I sensed that I could share things with you,” she continued, “And I discovered that I could.”

“Truly?” he asked nuzzling her nose and kissing her.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Except for the fact that I am base and bastard born.”

Rohanne smiled wryly.

“It’s almost like a sick jape. I finally find the man I would love to wed and …I can’t.”

“If it is a jape,” he said stoking her cheek, “Then it is on both of us.”

“How did you end up squiring for Ser Arlan?” she asked changing the subject.

“He found me running around on the street of Flea Bottom, the slums of Kings Landing.”

“How did you end up there?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied, “All of my early childhood memories are from just shortly before Ser Arlan took me in. I guess that I was left on street by some tavern girl or maybe a whore who could no longer feed me. I took to running around with a pack of boys. Orphans themselves. We scrounged around for food where we could. Caught..animals which we sold to pot shops. Stole.”

Dunk felt somewhat embarrassed to be telling this to Rohanne but she looked non pulsed as if she understood.

“You did what you had to do survive,” she said matter of factly.

“Yes,” he said taking her hand and kissing it, “One day a group of me and my friends were about to steal from a fruit vendor. I did not know that we were being watched by Ser Arlan. The vendor let out a cry of alarm and Ser Arlan grabbed my arm just as I was about to run off. The vendor was about to call the city watch. But Ser Arlan paid him a copper for what I was about to steal and took me away. He asked me where I lived so that he could take me home. I told him that I had no home and that I had lived on the streets of Flea Bottom for years. Ser Arlan told me that was no longer my station and for now on I was going to serve him as his squire. And so I did until his death two years ago.”

“He sounds like a good man.”

“I count myself fortunate. He treated me well and he taught me a lot. If it had not been for Ser Arlan. I would most likely be dead now or at the Wall.”  
“Then I must be grateful to him,” Rohanne said kissing him, “He brought you to me.”

“And what about your sire. And your mother?”

“My mother died when I was young. My father died almost two years ago.”

“He must have been very proud of you. All the things that you have achieved. Running the lands, watching over the small folk, breading horses. That’s no small feat.”  
“Coldmoat is my home Dunk,” she replied, “It’s my duty. It is in my veins.”

“You could have re-married and given it to your husband to run. Or handed it over to a steward.”

“After four husbands who died?” she began incredulously, “That’s not my way. I learned a long time ago if I was to thrive…I would have to rely on myself.”  
“Is this that the way your father raised you?”

“Partly,” she said, “Not intentionally. I had two brothers. Both of them died shortly after they were born. I think that when my father saw that he was not liable to have any sons. He began to show me how to manage the property. I think that first it was as a means of just sharing the family legacy with me..given the fact that I was his only surviving child. But when he saw that I had a talent for running things, he allowed me to make more decisions. Especially in the breeding and rearing of horses.”

“Then why did he stipulate that you marry?”

“Because he knew alone I would constantly be harassed by neighbors and Coldmoat needs a heir.”

“I forgot to ask, how did you come to marry ser Eustace?” Dunk asked curiously.

“After you were pulled from the river. I was so distraught that I asked Ser Eustace for permission to visit Adam’s grave. He said yes and found me there weeping. He invited me to his home for dinner and we stayed up all night talking about my father, Adam and things in general. I could see how much Ser Eustance was proud of the Osgray legacy. And it dawned on me right then that perhaps we might be able to assist each other. I suggested that if we married, he could spend the remainder of his days as Lord of Coldmoat and I could retain my title and continue to manage my properties and affairs. He agreed.”

“Are you not afraid that he’ll try to take over?” Dunk asked stroking her hair.

“He might but I don’t think that will happen. He is a very passive man who likes to dream of battle and think of his ancestors and their feats of glory. He is not very grounded in the present. By what I have heard of Standfast he has not spent much resources trying to improve his lands or tend to his folk. He understands that I am better suited for managing the lands. As long as I don’t try and let it be known publicly that the success of Coldmoat is my doing than his. He’s more frail than he lets on.”

“I noticed he seems to have a problem with his lungs.”

“Yes he coughs a lot. He’s tried to hide it, but I’ve spotted blood on his kerchief and sleeves. I don’t think that he will last more than a few years….I think that he will want to take the time he has left easy.. and will allow me to manage the lands on my own. I have even asked Maester Cerrick to assist him with his family history to keep him busy and from under my feet.”  
“You’ve done so much. It must be hard to give up your standing.”  
“I know,” Rohnane said shrugging, “But it was the best alternative.”   
“Ser Eustace will protect you. And one day you’ll find someone one day. Of your..station. Who will…see in you what I see in you and… you will have a family,” he began, “and.”

“And?”

“You will forget me one day,” his voice thick with emotion.

“That will not happen. Never,” she said fiercely and kissed him, “You may be bastard born, and by the laws of our land you are base born. But I can’t think of a man more fit and suited for me and to be at my side than you.”

Dunk took Rohanne and rolled her onto her back. He crouched over her and kissed his way down her body until he reached the nest of her hair below. He kissed her thighs and then, parted her legs and once more pleasured her with his tongue until she cried out. She then reached for him and pulled him up towards her. So that he was on top of her. He was afraid of crushing her with his weight. But she instructed him to rest his weight on his elbows.  
He cradled himself between her thighs. She reached down and took him and placed him inside of her. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, she wrapped her legs around his waist. 

It was slower this time, Dunk didn’t care if the whole world saw them together. This is what he had dreamt of since he was a young lad, and the fact that this experience was with the woman who meant the world to him made it even more special. He stayed still for several moments, tenderly kissing her entire face, her lips, her forehead, her cheeks, the crown of her soft red hair. Being inside of her like this felt as if they were truly one. But it was more than just the coupling…it was the entire connection that they shared from being together. 

As he rocked inside of her, he locked his eyes with hers, feeling as if he could just drown in those huge green fields. It had been the most exhilarating feeling when he felt her bury her nails deep in his back and cry out his name. Trembling Dunk turned onto his side back and immediately pulled her into his arms and cradled her, holding her tight. He buried his face in her hair and for a moment thought about reversing his decision and staying after all. He could learn so much about managing and being in charge of guards, improving his training and squiring Egg. Of course he could be close to her…

But he couldn’t. 

If he remained at Coldmoat it would only complicate things, for more reasons than what he had had told her. If he stayed they would be at each other constantly and it would only be a matter of time before they were found out. He wanted her, and he wanted to be with her, but not like this. Not having secret trysts. In the stables, behind buildings, in the woods, waiting until her husband was away..

His attraction to her had never been merely been physical, he enjoyed the pleasure of her company, her wit, her intelligence and the simpatico relationship they shared. And if he stayed on that would be denied to him.

And even though he was aware that her marriage to Osgrey was one mandated by necessity, Dunk was under no illusion as to what happened between them at least on some nights. Coldmoat would need a heir and Dunk knew what would have to occur between her and Osgrey to produce that heir. 

Just thinking about it made him uneasy. He knew that if he stayed he would be immensely bother by the fact that she was his, yet not with him. No matter how much he tried not to, he would grow to resent it and it might drive him to do something stupid. Years of training and the occasional beating by Ser Arlan had divested Dunk of his more bestial side of his nature. But he could not get rid of all of it. Dunk was still aware that it lurked deep inside him beneath the surface. That part of him had helped him to defeat Arion Targaryen at Ashford Meadow. It had helped him to take down the Longinch. Jealousy could cause it to resurface. And the gods only knew what would happen as a result.

But how would he react if…no when… she became with child? He and Osgrey looked nothing alike, if the child grew to be bigger than average size, everyone would know who fathered the child. And Dunk did not want to be in close proximity to his child and not be able to be a part of his or her life.

She was a bold and fearless woman. But she wasn’t stupid and certainly she was not the kind of woman who didn’t care about flaunting her lover in her husbands’ face. She could live with and ignore the gossip about her having cursed her husbands, because it was all nonsense and it helped in keeping her enemies at bay. But she wouldn’t be able to easily live with the gossip of being an un-faithful wife, especially when she needed her good name to do business with other nobles. Even the slightest kind of rumour could be used to destroy her. 

And of course there was something else to think about. Egg and his family. Maeker Targaryen had given him an opportunity to better himself and demonstrated his trust in him by allowing him to squire his son. How could he repay that trust if by causing a scandal by taking up with a married Lady?

…No he could not do that…as much as he wanted to remain. Leaving would be the best for all involved. He had faith that one day she would find a good man and thank him for the decision he had made. Rohanne turned in his arms and mounted him so that her body was alongside top of his. She took his face between her hands and began to tenderly kiss him. He kissed her back stroking her hair. 

“I should be leaving,” he said between kisses, “Egg will be wondering what is keeping me.”

“Egg isn’t a stupid boy. He will know that if you’re being delayed, then there’s a good reason. And the exact reason why. It’s why he told me where I could find you. He can wait awhile longer.”

“No he is a very smart boy,” Dunk said allowing the finger of one hand to run down the length of her braid, while with the other he stroked her back. He could feel the coiled power and strength beneath his finger tips, and was immediately reminded of when he had first seen her shooting arrows at an archery butt..and his dream..“I am glad that he saw that there is something between us.”

“Tell me how did you meet?” Rohanne asked. Dunk quickly told her the events of two years ago at Ashford Meadow.

“I can see why he wanted to be your squire. You’re a very good man. Strong and brave. He probably saw you more as someone who behaved like a hero than…what he was used to. I saw the same in you,” Rohanne said, “Maybe one day..when Egg becomes a great lord, he’ll give you lands and a title. And that way you can be free to marry any woman you want.”

 

“That is not why I agreed to squire him,” Dunk said defensively.

“I know,” she said quickly, “But the realm needs good men like you. The Targaryen’s would be foolish to let you go from their service.”

“Maybe if things..change I can come back here one day and serve you,” he said, “In more than one way.”

“I would like that very much,” Rohanne said grinning before kissing him deeply.

They both rose to their feet. She assisted him dressing and he did the same thing with her. As she was about to pull on her small clothes.

“Wait,” he whispered taking her right hand with both of his. He pressed it to his lips.

She stopped and looked at him.

“I am glad that I met you. And I am glad that this…happened. I feel no shame about what we have done.”

“Neither do I,” she replied looking into his eyes.

“I..am sorry for the way I behaved earlier.”

“Dunk there is no need..” she began.

“No..please let me explain,” he pleaded, “I was angry at you because you never came to see. But I was also angry because..even if you had. You still couldn’t be mine…I thought that it would be just better to leave quickly after that. My heart was already torn in two… I just…I just love you so much that..” he paused lowering his eyes feeling like a fool and like a silly boy. He had said more than he intended to. He was sure that while she liked him it went no where as deep as..

“I know,” he heard her say softly, “I do. And I feel the same about you.”

“You do?” he asked surprised looking up at her. The expression on her face confirmed it. He had never had a woman look at him like that before, it was a look of adoration coupled with vulnerability. 

“Yes..I do,” she replied, “ I love you very much."

Suddenly Dunk as if his insides were flooded with an indescribable warmth. A huge smile came over his face. 

He opened his mouth to say something but stopped as it suddenly dawned on him that…

“That’s why you never came by to see me, wasn’t it?” he asked.

“I was almost undone when I did not see you rise from the river,” she squeezing his hand and pulling him closer, “When Egg jumped in and pulled your head above water so that you would not drown. I wanted to join him. I instructed my men to get in the water and help Egg pull you out, Then bring you to Coldmoat so that you could heal. I wanted to see you.. I set out many times. But I was being watched, especially after the wedding…I. Gossip had already started to form. When Egg told me that you were leaving that day. Suddenly I did not care about the gossip. I had to see you..and to convince you stay. I left the castle at the first opportunity..and waited for you in the barns. I did not want you to think that I was ungrateful for what you had done for me or that I did not care for you.”

“Wait..” Dunk began confused, “What do you mean ungrateful? Ungrateful for what?”

“I am referring to your stand at the river against Ser Lucas. I know that it was just as much to defend Ser Eustace as much for me.”

Dunk gaped at her in surprise, she knew?

Seeing his surprise she gave him a huge smile.

“Yes I suspected that his threat to force me to marry him bothered you and that your efforts against him were as much about doing your duty for Osgrey as it was for protecting me. But I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t until you mentioned that you were worried about my welfare that it was confirmed,” she said and paused.

“I saw your reaction at the stream. How.. frightened you were. I could not allow…him to.” Dunk could not finish the sentence, “I could not live with myself.”

“I know. And that’s why I could not allow you to leave. I should have come and seen you earlier…Gods if you had died from your injuries I…I..”, she said becoming distraught, she began to twist at her braid.

“Shh…” he said cupping her face in his large hands, “I forgive you.”

“You do?”

“Yes” he replied kissing her.

“Show me,” she said huskily.

“Come here,” he said firmly.

She pushed him down against a bale of hay and he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her head down and kissed her hard. She loosened his breaches once again and brought out his cock. He slid his hands up under her dress and pulled back her dress, she mounted him and took him inside her. Dunk held her by the waist as she slammed down onto his cock over and over until they both cried out.

“The rain is changing,” he said nuzzling her nose, “Someone will be out here looking for you. I should leave.”

Rohanne nodded.

“I have a feeling that one day . Our paths will cross again.”

“I hope so,” Dunk replied

They kissed once again and rose to their feet. They finished dressing and made their way to Thunder’s stall.

“Take the horse,” Rohanne implored one more time, “Please. As a token.To remember me.”

“No,” Dunk said shaking his head, “There’s something else I want to remember you by…  
”  
He unsheathed his large knife and walked towards her.

 

He found Egg by the gate sitting astride a handsome new sorrel palfrey and holding Maesters’ lead.-- Despite the rainfall he looked calm & not at all surprised or annoyed by Dunk’s delay. Dunk suspected that the boy must have known that something would have happened otherwise he would have met Dunk in the barn to assist him with saddling of the horse. Egg, however, did look surprised, however, at seeing him on Thunder.  
**“She said she wanted to give you a new horse ser.”  
“Even highborn ladies don’t get all they want,” Dunk said, “It wasn’t a horse I wanted. I took something else to remember her by instead. A lock of red hair.”  
He reached under his cloak, brought out Rohanne’s red braid and smiled.


End file.
